PandaMania – Monday

Today at Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) it was steamy hot in panda territory but there were some cool things happening! Here’s what your kids did:

We all started off in Party Time Sing & Play, learning our song of the week: Wild About Us! and several other catchy tunes.

Crews (groups of kids) spent time getting to know each other. They also met Fez, our Bible Buddy for the day (that’s him above) and Panda Patty, the girl who wants to be a panda! Imagine that?

Here’s a shot of Panda Patty. She’ll be around all week. I wonder what she’ll be up to tomorrow?

We also heard about the day’s Bible story, about how God created our great, big, beautiful world! That story is in Genesis 1. (You can click on any of these highlighted words to be taken to a link, in this case one where you can read our Bible story.)

What happened next? The preschoolers went off to their special rooms and did the following:

• Games – The kids especially enjoyed catching floating feathers in their hands and bouncing balls in the parachute and hiding out underneath it.
• Bible Adventures -The kids used their senses to explore the incredible things that God created including using glow in the dark stars and making animal noises.
• Bible Buddies – The kids met the puppet, Sklyer, who loves pandas! They wrote/drew about things that God made (AKA: God Sightings) and discussed things that God made that are loved. They also got to meet the Bible buddy, Fez!
• Crafts – The kids created a miniature plastic/magnetic version of themselves as they thought about how they are God’s wonderful creation.

Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations:

• Bamboo Blast Games – Kids played “What animal am I?” – they had animal labels stuck to their foreheads and had to ask others questions to discover which animal they were! Things I heard at this station: Am I a mammal? Am I green? Do I run fast? Do I have fur? So does a gorilla have a tail or not???
  Ask your child what other games they played!
• Bible Adventure – In this station kids get to hear our Bible story in a special way. Today they helped tell the story of creation! (I think they were all stars!)
• Chadder’s Theatre – Chadder is a puppet who stars in a video. Today Chadder went to Pop’s Panda Paradise to try to help answer the question: Why are all the pandas disappering? Chadder helped capture someone (or something?) but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see who/what it is!
  Also at Chadder’s Theatre, kids have time to write or draw “God Sightings.” Some collected were: animals, this church, my brother, and the sunrise this morning. Kids got a special wristband to help them remember to look for God. “God Sightings” will be noted all week.
• Crazy Crafts – Kids got to decorate a clip to collect all of their Bible buddies. They made miniature versions of themselves! God made each one of them with special love.

Our “older” elementary kids in our Grad Group are working every day this week on a mission project. Today they decorated thank you cards to be used at Alpha House. They also created school supply kits that will be distributed via the Bryant Community Center. Our grads also helped lead us in singing.

Mid-way through our time this morning we all gathered at Treetop Treats. Our snack was called “Maker Mix.” See if your kids can tell you what each element in the snack represented.

At the end of our morning everyone gathered together for Rowdy Wrap Up.

There was more singing (with motions!) Ask your kids about what else hapened – Something about a rocket lauching device and pandas??

Important stuff for parents/guardians:

• When picking up your child please wait for a runner to bring your child to your car.
• If your child will be picked up by someone else, you must tell us in writing ahead of time.
• Each year we choose a mission to support during our VBC week. This year we are collecting backpacks and school supplies for children in our community that can’t afford these essential items. Send in supplies so that no kid gets left out this fall!

Finally… Everyday we’ve got a special Bible verse. Today’s was from Psalm 139:14…

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

And, we were always on the listen for a special Bible point for the day…

God Made You!

See you tomorrow!
The VBC Team